Thanking You
by Hermitt
Summary: A surprise during Harry's 6th year Defense class leads to confusion and slight nausea for some. The visitor? Dimension-jumping female Harry, of course. And who is that following her through? Rated for language. One-shot. NOT HARRY/SEVERUS! Third category: HUMOUR.


This story is not affiliated with or endorsed by J. K. Rowling or any of her publishers or licensees. It does not imply or claim any rights to her characters or creations.

Harry Potter is a registered trademark of Warner Bros.

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><p>Harry walked down the corridor towards his Defense lesson. He was late but he was so angry at Snape that he didn't care.<p>

"Detention, Potter," sneered Snape before Harry had even fully entered the classroom. "Tonight, eight o'clock."

Harry did not even deign to respond. Instead he went to his seat without a word and opened his textbook.

As Snape continued scaring the wits out of the students with his stories of how this curse could disembowel you this way, and how this hex could cause you this amount of pain, Harry allowed his eyes to wander over the classroom. Jar of some creature or other that would eat you alive, preserved, here, tin of hair-devouring worms, there, some creature with only one eye, never blinking as it stared back into Harry's own two…

_BOOM!_

As the smoke cleared, Harry's glasses remained fogged over, however he could hear the exclamations of his classmates. Quickly removing his glasses and cleaning them before replacing them on his face, Harry looked around for the post-explosive cause of commotion.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" yelled the girl, her emerald eyes focused on Harry.

"Mum?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"I don't bloody well think so! Why do you look like my dad?" asked the redhaired sixteen year old of Harry.

"I'm no ones dad!" Harry yelled at her. "But you're my mum! Just … with my glasses, is all."

"Your glasses? These are mine! But … you have my eyes. What the hell is going on here?" she yelled in distress, her eyes finally leaving Harry's and moving frantically around the room. "Hermione! Ron!" she called in relief, finally noticing the frozen pair. "Can you tell me what's happened? One second I'm zoning out during Defense class, the next I'm staring down my dad-lookalike with my eyes! Ron? Hermione?" she asked worriedly when the pair only looked at her in bewilderment.

"Potter!" snarled Snape finally and to the shock of everyone, both Harry and the girl turned to look at him, the girl's eyes widening in shock. His eyes refusing to leave the girl identical to his love, Snape said, "The both of you, come with me. We're going to see the headmaster."

"Finally, someone with sense," muttered the girl who did not even bat an eyelash at the attention of the Defense professor. Apparently she was used to it.

"Wait! Is this something Voldemort's done?" Harry yelled, scowling at the girl and ignoring the shocked gasps of his classmates.

What he didn't count on was the girl's scoff.

"Are you kidding me?" she laughed, though the sound was tinged with resentment. "That bastard died last year."

"What?" Harry gasped.

"Um, yeah. Which rock have you been living under? He dies – partially, at least – when he tries to kill me at one, regains a body during my fourth year before he dies by my wand last year at the Ministry."

The entire class, including the teacher, all stared at the petite girl in shock. There she stood, misplaced, and she was talking casually about the death of the most feared Dark wizard of the time.

"Impossible," snapped Draco Malfoy as he stared at the girl.

"Um, not impossible," she said, rolling her eyes at the blonde in exasperation. "Grow up, Malfoy, and invest in a spine, will you? You're just embarrassing youself."

"Listen here, you-," he started.

"Zip it, ferret. Now and forever, not interested," she sighed and turned away from him, missing his shocked then indignant face.

"What's your name?" asked Harry, choosing to ignore the assumed reaction from the girl who looked like his mother.

The girl turned back to focus on Harry suspiciously and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Everyone in the Wizarding World knows my name," she answered slowly. "So why don't you?"

"If I may," interrupted Hermione tentatively, stepping forward beside Harry and looking at the girl curiously. "I don't think you're from around here. You see, around here, Harry here," she said, gesturing to the mentioned, "is James and Lily Potter's son."

"But I'm their daughter!" exclaimed the girl in shock. "Hermione, what are you talking about?"

"We are going to see the headmaster, now," snarled Snape as he stalked forward. "_Now_," he repeated, scowling at the two with the matching eyes.

"How did you kill Voldemort?" asked Harry suddenly, ignoring the professor.

Rolling her eyes, the girl responded in irritation, "A hell of a lot of things went into that, but mainly it was to do with our wands. Now can someone please explain to me why I am a stranger?"

"It appears that you are from a different dimension of some kind," said the wise old voice of the headmaster.

"Headmaster," said Snape, turning to face the elderly man standing in the doorway, summoned by a panicked portrait, abruptly.

"I think, Miss Potter, you should come with me. Excuse us, Professor Snape. Harry, perhaps you should join us, hm?" he asked.

"Professor!" smiled the Potter girl. "Good to see you! I thought you were taking time off touring Atlantis, though? Did you get me the water-broom?" she asked excitedly.

His eyes sparkling in amusement, the headmaster smiled indulgently at the redhaired, emerald-eyed girl who could have been mistaken for a past Head Girl, were it not for her glasses, glasses which matched that Head Girl's husband and child.

"Perhaps some time soon, my dear. However, forgive me, I must ask you your name."

"Um, it's Josie. Josie Potter? Josie Lily Potter? Come on!" she yelled in exasperation as the entire class and the two professors failed to register the familiarity of her name. "You know, Josie Lily Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, the Gryffindor Golden Girl, the Chosen One, the Saviour of the Wizarding World!"

"Indeed, my dear. Perhaps you should come with me now, however," the headmaster requested.

"Oh no," she said, slowly retreating from the crowd. "What's going on here? I've somehow managed to enter another dimension? Great! At least tell me my parents are alive," she whispered, still backing away.

"No, they're dead, the same way as yours," Harry said sadly before his eyes widened. "Look out!" he shouted, just as Josie hurled herself backwards, intending to run, but instead running into Snape.

"_Ooph_, sorry!" she exclaimed as she fell back into his arms, he being the only thing holding her up as her legs gave way on impact with his chest.

"Get up, Potter," he snarled, though his arms remained gentle as they helped steady her.

"Trying to," she grumbled as she righted herself, noticing the presence of the dark man behind her did not disappear after she was capable of standing on her own two feet once more.

"Please accompany me, Miss Potter," requested the headmaster.

"Come on ... Josie," Harry said awkwardly, his eyes remaining on the girl who could have been his mother wearing his father's glasses for a laugh.

"I don't think so," she said. "I'd rather just go back home, right now. From the looks on your faces, Riddle is still alive and very much kicking. I'd rather not go through that again, if I can avoid it."

"Perhaps you could provide some insight into the war, my dear," suggested Dumbledore.

"Yeah, with someone who's already defeated Voldemort, you could tell us how to defeat him sooner," Harry exclaimed excitedly.

"Um, I could, but they say terrible things happen to wizards who meddle with time, and I can't imagine meddling with another dimension is that much better," Josie said nervously. "Not to mention I bet Dumbledore wouldn't want me to say anything. It could mess things up for you if I do or say the wrong thing."

"Nothing changes, then," sneered Malfoy all of a sudden, gaining the attention of everyone. "You're still Dumbledore's lap dog."

Harry looked like he was about to protest, the fire in his eyes burning for Malfoy's blood, however he was stopped when he heard a chuckle coming from Josie and her reaction to the insult shocked him still.

"Really, Malfoy?" she chuckled, gliding slowly over to him, her eyes taking in his appearance for the first time. "Wow, in this reality you've really let youself go. You weren't too bad looking before, and now you resemble a skeleton. Got little errands to run for your half-blood master?" she sneered, suddenly gripping his left forearm tightly all of a sudden

"How dare you," he snarled, ripping his arm from her grip, the other occupants of the room shocked silent.

"Didn't know, Drakie-poo?" asked Josie condescendingly, pouting beautifully, although it was certainly insulting. "Well, how about I give you the basic story? Your master, Lord Voldemort, is really named Tom Riddle. True, he is the heir of Slytherin, but only through his severely inbred mother. She fell in love with a muggle man named Tom Riddle and he cared nothing for her, as poor, filthy and ugly as she was, so she decided a little help from Amortentia was in order. By and by, Riddle Senior was eventually let off the potion, realised who he was with and ran for it. Meanwhile, Merope Gaunt, ah, I see by your face you know who the Gaunt's were," she smirked at his repulsed expression at the mention of the Gaunt name, "was pregnant with their son, Tom Riddle Junior. This boy was left to be raised in a Muggle orphanage before he came to Hogwarts. So, basically," she said, looking innocently up into Malfoy's horrified face, "you work for what you hate, a filthy half-blood, raised a Muggle. Much like myself, only I'm not evil. Unless you ask Dean Thomas, of course," she smirked.

"Enough, Josie," said the Headmaster, frowning at the girl.

"Right," she said, looking mildly sheepish. "Well, you can still quit, anyway, Malfoy. Last I heard, you were doing well at Beauxbatons. Of course, I heard this from you, and we both know you'll say anything to get in my good books, but still," she smiled sweetly at him, halting his breathing for a mere second before he recomposed himself.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Potter," he sneered.

"Of course you don't. Nothing changes then," she smirked before turning away.

"Oi!" he shouted indignantly and proceeded to flush as the class laughed at him.

"So, Josie, is it, then?" asked Ron as she walked over to he, Hermione and Harry.

"Yep. You want an Order of Merlin for remembering that, do you Won-Won?" giggled Josie good-naturedly.

"I think I'll like you," smirked Harry.

"Well if not, you won't be liking yourself. But it's weird looking at you. All I see is my dad with my mum's eyes."

"And it's odd looking at you. All I see is my mum with my dad's glasses."

"Yeah, and it's barmy watching the both of you," said Ron, looking at them curiously. "You're both the same person, but different too."

"Yes, and when you stand further away it's like looking at James and Lily," added Hermione. "Because then you can't really see Harry's eyes behind his fringe and it's harder to tell Josie's wearing glasses."

"Yeah, difference is I won't be falling in love with this bloke then marrying him. I'd be marrying me," said Josie.

"And that doesn't sound self-obsessed at all," grinned Harry.

"You know what I mean," grinned Josie in return.

"Sad thing is, I do," he said, sounding for all the world like it was the saddest thing on Earth. "What's that say for my mental stability?" he asked dramatically, the pair of them slipping into sibling banter naturally.

"Hey!" giggled Josie.

"Nothing much at all, mate," guffawed Ron, slapping both Potter's on the back good-naturedly.

"Probably less than nothing much at all," giggled Hermione.

"And by association, what about you two?" scowled Josie, failing to hide her smile.

"That we're trying to show the two of you the light," said Hermione smartly.

"That we're wicked," grinned Ron.

"That you're both bloody insane is what I'd say," smiled Josie, rolling her eyes at the pair.

"I couldn't agree more, Miss Potter," sniffed Harry imperiously.

"Elementary, my dear Harry," Josie responded, lifting her nose high into the air and looking away from the giggling ginger and brunette. "Hey, Harry," whispered Josie conspiratorially to Harry, unheard by Ron and Hermione.

"Yeah?" asked a still grinning Harry.

"In this dimension, are Ron and Mione together yet?"

Allowing shock to briefly overcome his features before he allowed his smirk to shine through, Harry replied, "No, what about over in Voldemort-free world?"

"Why yes, yes they are. Of course, it took so much effort on mine and Ginny's part, but we got them to see they belong together in the end," she smirked triumphantly. "Speaking of Gin, how is she?"

As Harry blushed and looked away, Josie's eyes widened.

"No way!" she bellowed, catching everyone's attention. "You two are together here?"

"No! Josie, no!" Harry tried to hush her, blushing even more deeply and avoiding the eyes of all in the room.

"Then you like her!" she gasped.

"Shhh, Josie!" Harry pleaded.

"Wow, that's weird," she said. "She's my second best girl friend back home. And you like her? Wow. Okay then. Still, rather you than Blaise Zabini," Josie shrugged.

"What?" Harry bellowed in outrage, along with Malfoy and Zabini himself.

"Oh, yeah," Josie said flippantly. "Zabini totally fancies her. Can't say I blame him, but I prefer a male me dating my best friend over him, I have to say."

"Dating who? Hermione?" yelled Ron in outrage.

"What? No! What the hell are you on about?" Josie asked, horrified. "Oh, right!" she said, hitting herself in the head for her unawareness. The others hadn't heard the other part of their conversation and thought that Josie was referring to Hermione and not the young female Weasley. "No, Zabini is not dating Hermione. I'd hardly allow that, anyway."

"Then who does he fancy?" asked Ron hotly.

"This Zabini? I'd hardly know," shrugged Josie infuriatingly as she smiled innocently at the short tempered ginger.

"Come now, Miss Potter, please," said Dumbledore, more firmly than he had before, gesturing for her to follow him.

"Oh, right! Sorry, Professor! Jumping dimensions to find you're a bloke in another is just a little disorienting. Nice to see some things don't change though," she said, smiling at Snape. "I mean his unpleasantness," she stage-whispered to Harry, Ron and Hermione before winking at the angry man-of-topic, causing his outrage to turn to something equally powerful, if severely different.

As Josie Potter made her way to follow the headmaster, Harry at her heels, another explosion of dark smoke overrode everyone's vision accompanied by another loud boom. The pair with the emerald eyes quickly cleaned their glasses, only to find another Snape in the room. Although the second man was clearly identifiable as Severus Snape, he was also severely different. His hair was not greasy, but clearly silky-smooth, the pallid complection most were used to was replaced with healthy colour, although he still remained pale, his teeth were even and closer to white than yellow, and his usual sneer and scowl was most noticably replaced by a less cold, if still unpleasant expression. As shocking as these differences were, however, the most shocking was when he gazed at the redhaired Josie. Instead of scowling, the man appeared to smile - actually smile - in amusement.

"Playing games again, are we, Josie?" he asked with an amused smirk.

Letting loose a free laugh, Josie grinned at the man and replied, "The lesson and today's Defense topic, actually. But maybe a little. How could you guess, Sev?"

The shocked looks she received when referring to Snape as Sev went ignored by the two.

"The obvious answer? You look sixteen."

"And I just thought I'd aged well," she sighed. "Oh, very well," she smiled, producing her wand, waving it over herself, and laughing when all in the room besides the dimension-jumping Severus Snape gasped at her new appearance. Where the sixteen year old Josie Potter was standing, was now a much older Josie Potter.

"Hm," Severus intoned as he looked her over.

"There, thirty-six again. Happy, Severus?" she smirked at him.

"What the hell? Weren't you just my age?" asked Harry in shock.

"I was, but you see, I was able to defeat Riddle last year because, due to an incompetant Ministry member, who shall remain nameless, I was thrust back in time. I had already defeated Voldemort, yes, but I was sent back to before I had. Terrible things happen to wizards who meddle with time, however that something terrible for me was only a loss of the world I knew, to return to the world I'd known."

"Yes, and we are all fortunate you were sent back in time," Severus spoke, his usually empty eyes sparkling with appreciation and his rich voice noticably warm.

"Oh, you," Josie said dramatically, fluttering her eyelashes comically. "You just like not being a complete bastard anymore, admit it."

"The word to focus on here is 'complete'. I like to think I can still terrify a first year better than any other," he smirked.

"Aw, you can, I will admit," Josie agreed, walking over to him, "but you still fail at modesty, Sev," she smirked as she allowed him to put one of his arms around her waist and held his other hand.

"True," he said, smirking into the top of her head.

"What?" squeeked Harry as he gazed at the pair in horror, his eyes as wide as Dobby the House Elf's.

"Ah, and this is?" asked Severus as he finally saw Harry.

"Harry Potter. I'm assuming Harry _James_ Potter, of course," replied Josie.

"He looks just like his father," Severus said distastefully, however he continued with a little elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Josie, "but he has Lily's eyes. Happy?" he asked the woman leaning into his embrace with a roll of his onyx eyes.

"Unquestionably," she grinned as she returned his gaze. "So how'd you get here, anyway?" she asked him, completely at ease with her situation and predicament now she was no longer alone.

"I'd come to deliver your papers when I noticed you disappear. It wasn't difficult to follow you or gain the proper knowledge to return the both of us before I left."

"Wait, so you weren't in class?" asked Harry.

"Oh, I was in class, it was just mine that I was teaching," smiled Josie. "Don't tell Minerva I wasn't paying attention," she whispered loudly to Harry, winking at him.

"Indeed he won't, although I'm sure your class has already run off to her by now," smirked Severus.

"They better not. If Ron and Hermione do that they won't be pleased with their next essay results, nor the length I'll make it be," Josie mock-scowled.

"Abusing your power, Miss Potter?" grinned Severus.

"I do learn from the best, Mr Snape," Josie quipped in return.

"As touching as this is, either you do something useful or return to your dimension," sneered Snape from across the room, disturbed by the appearance of himself from another reality.

"Oh, that's right! I found you, Sev!" grinned Josie.

"I see," he replied, looking at himself both curiously and awkwardly.

"Well, we'd best be off, anyway," Josie smiled. "It was brilliant seeing all of you, but I've got a class to teach, essays to grade, a man to marry, you know how it goes," she said, winking. "Let's go, Sev!"

"A man to marry, hm?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Instead of blushing or turning away, Josie gazed back at him confidently.

"Of course," she said before her eyes turned mischevious and she smirked. "Got to get in there before Tonks steals Remus, you know."

"You little witch," Severus laughed, causing all in the room to drop their mouths in shock at the sound, all except Josie, who laughed with him, and Dumbledore, whose eyes sparkled with mirth. The students were very close to fainting when the two dimension-jumpers kissed, as well.

"Well, if you're so opposed to that, I guess Sirius isn't too bad an option," she pretended to ponder.

"Over my dead body," Severus growled, tightening his hold around her waist.

"I'm sure Sirius wouldn't mind making that happen, however he knows he'd have to go through me," Josie smiled as she cupped Severus's face before she kissed him again.

"Please, stop," moaned Harry, covering his eyes.

"Right, sorry, Harry," Josie giggled, looking at Harry, her face still next to Severus's.

"Never mind him," Severus murmered as he lightly rubbed her cheek with his large nose, his eyes closed contentedly.

"Don't be rude, Severus," Josie lightly scolded, although the affection laced throughout her voice was impossible to misinterperet. "We should be going, anyway," she added.

"Very well," Severus sighed, stepping away from his love as he began murmering things and waving his wand around.

"Good luck, Harry. If you're anything like me, Riddle will be dead sooner than you think," Josie smiled as she walked over to Harry.

"But why are you with him?" asked Harry in mild disgust. "You're beautiful and he's - he's - well, he's him."

"Is that so, Potter?" said Severus, his back still turned as he continued waving his wand.

"Sweetheart, I do believe Harry is trying to insult you without insulting you," Josie smiled.

"So it would seem, my dear," Severus said, his smirk not needed to be seen to know it was there. "Ready to go, Josie," Severus said, turning back around.

"You go ahead, love, I'll be with you in a moment," Josie smiled, gesturing for Severus to step through the shimmering air.

Severus hesitated for a moment before he relented to the woman's wishes with a tip of his head in her direction. "As you wish, my love."

Josie turned back around to face the sixth year Defense class, their teacher and the headmaster after her companion left. She smiled at each and every one of them in turn, giving words of encouragement to each until she paused on a select few.

"Draco, you have so much potential to be a great wizard. When you come out of this, make the most of your life, but for the better. Professor Dumbledore, I wish you the best, and I hope you find peace. Hermione, don't give up on the idiot. He'll come around," she said with a wink. "Ron, you're just saving the best for last, am I right?" she said, giggling at his confused expression. "You'll make a great man of yourself one day and you'll have your greatest love with you. Harry, you don't really hear this, I know, but you are loved, so much. You will do the right thing and make the sacrifice that needs to be made in the end. You are so brave and so noble and so good. And if I know me, you're also too humble for your own good," Josie smirked, winking at Harry and giving him a boneshattering hug of comfort and support. "It opens at the close, Harry," she whispered in his ear. "You'll know when that is and you'll make the right decision. Have a good life, dear one, and remain brave, until the very end," she said, her eyes tearing slightly and her smile breathtaking.

"Okay," he said uncertainly, unaware why his heart and throat were constricting and his eyes clouding over.

"Severus Snape," said Josie, finally turning to face the man whose expression was too conflicted to properly identify. She walked up to the dark man, his eyes becoming more and more desperate as they gazed at her. His mouth was twitching as though he wanted to say something, although it remained firmly shut.

"Yes," he finally managed to say, his voice sounding strangled.

Josie quickly glanced behind her, noticing the attention of the entire class focused on the pair of them. With a smirk at them all, Josie flicked her wand and suddenly she and the tortured man were encased in a transparent bubble.

"We can see out, but they can't see in. Also, it has a muffliato laced throughout its magic, so it is relatively quiet," Josie said, smiling as she turned to face the man.

"I see," he said, his voice sounding tight.

"Oh, Severus," Josie whispered, refusing to relinquish his gaze. "You are a great, great man, you know," she told him, refusing to back down when his gaze turned skeptical. "It's true. I named my second son after you, back in my first future. Albus Severus his name was. He was also my only child to inherit her eyes, Severus," she told him quietly, noticing how his adam's apple bobbed and his eyes became slightly filmy. "You can bet that Harry's second son will share that name in this dimension. I know what you have to do, Severus. I've already lived it once myself," she said, her eyes turning sad in memory. "It won't be easy - at all - and Harry will hate you more than he has ever hated another. But," she insisted when he moved to turn away, "but he will then discover the truth. Your love for her, your promise and your true loyalties. He will respect you more than any other for your sacrifices, Severus Snape. And she would have forgiven you long ago," she finished by whispering and gripping his slack hands in her warm, petite grip.

Throughout the entire monologue Severus had been refusing to glance away from her for even a moment. His eyes had been trained on her as though she were the most important thing in the world and, removing her glasses, to him, she could have been.

"Lily," he whispered, his voice cracking as his shoulders slumped.

"Lily," Josie smiled. "Lily, my mother, would have forgiven you a long time ago, Severus. Don't continue living with the pain and guilt of her death, either. It was nothing you could control. It was not your fault," she told him firmly, her eyes truly hard as emeralds as she refused to lower her gaze.

"It was," he whispered, scowling at her. "It was all my fault!" he hissed.

"It was not, Severus Snape!" Josie said firmly, squeezing his hands tightly and moving closer to him until she was almost touching him. "Listen to me now, Severus," Josie said after a moment of silence where neither person was willing to back down, their gazes equally stubborn. "You have your whole life ahead of you. It is time to let school grudges lie and let the flames die. She's dead and not coming back. Both men are dead and not coming back. You know of whom I speak. There is so much potential in you. I know, in my reality you and I are living that potential. You could be happy, Severus. You just need to allow youself ... to forgive youself," she told him quietly.

"It is easy for him to move on, he has you, it would have been easy, you look the same."

He was shocked silent as his head whipped to the side, her handprint making its red appearance on his cheek.

"I am not my mother and I am very different to her. She is dead. I am alive. And I am my own person. Severus knows that and he has frequently told me how very different I am from the woman he used to love. He has even admitted he loves my glasses, despite their previous owner. What I am giving you is a chance, Severus Snape. A chance to move on. Have the will to live beyond the war and have the will to be happy."

"I will never be happy without her," he said, and it was said with so much bittersweet acceptance that Josie found her throat too dry to form any more words. Instead, she dropped his hands and let her head fall to look at the ground. Closing her eyes, Josie debated with herself for a moment before she decided how to act.

Reaching a hand up to her face, Josie removed her glasses. She took a deep breath and chose to grant a dead man his ghost wish.

"Then be happy for but a moment," she whispered before she raised her eyes to meet his.

She knew. She looked exactly like her mother. Exactly like how her mother would have looked had she been alive.

And she knew that Severus Snape deserved at least as much thanks as she could grant him. He deserved a moment of happpiness, one whose life was so filled with hurt and heartache. And who was she to deny him that. He would get no thanks, she knew. And she couldn't allow such a tragic man to die without one fond memory.

She heard his sharp intake of breath as she raised her head. She could not see very well without her glasses, but she could see well enough.

"Be happy for a moment, Sev," she whispered, before she raised her head until her lips met his.

It was not a passionate kiss, nor was it lacking in emotion. It was a kiss which told of the bittersweet parting that was to come. It thanked him for his love and sacrifice and it gave him courage to battle on. The light meeting of lips, although familiar yet foreign for one, and only dreamed of by the other, conveyed all the emotion and words that needed to be said, needed to be released, and could never again be had.

As she pulled away from the ghost of a man of whose fate she knew was not to be anything but horrible, Josie was incapable of restraining a tear or two. As the salty droplets fell from her cheeks, her eyes squeezed shut tight, Josie felt the thin lips press lightly onto her forehead.

"Thank you," he said.

"Thank you," said she.

And that was all that was needed between them to make everything seem a little less dark and a little more bright.

* * *

><p>"Welcome home, sweetheart," whispered Severus as he held the woman in his arms tight.<p>

"Oh, Sev," she whispered, her foot finally passing through the dimension portal as she fell into his arms.

Nothing needed to be said between the two. Instead, Severus Snape held his love in his arms as she cried for him. The students had left the classroom long ago and it was now only the two of them remaining. He held her in the empty space, feeling her shudders and sobs as she relived her memories, brought afresh to the forefront of her mind by the tragic fate of the man he knew he would have become without her. His life would have been wrought with even more heartache had she not returned to his time. He had seen enough glimpses into her mind to know his life would have ended in sorrow. He, alone. He, miserable. He, pining after a woman long dead and cold in the ground. Until the bright, warm and shining woman in his arms now had entered his life.

"I love you, Josie Potter," he whispered into her hair, her sobs and sniffles now ceased.

"I love you, Severus Snape," she replied, hugging his torso tight and burying her head into his chest.

"But I would prefer to be able to say 'I love you, Josie Snape,'" he hinted.

"It would be nice," he could tell she grinned.

"What do you say, my love, my dearest, my saviour and angel?"

"I say you've taken one too many cheesey charms to the head," she giggled.

He couldn't help but smile.

"But I also say yes," she whispered, finally looking up into his eyes before glancing away again and biting her lip.

"Josie, I-."

"It also wouldn't do for the child of Josie Potter and Severus Snape to be a bastard, now would it?" she smirked.

The green eyes found black, and after a second something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, allowing a flood of warmth of which they had never known to pour forth from their depths, leaving them bright, warm and full of life. The hands holding Josie's moved to cradle her face, and Severus kissed her for the life she had given him; both his child and his own.

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><p>Yes, the final paragraph was kinda paraphrased and remodeled. All hail Rowling!<p>

I don't actually know where this came from. I was sick when I wrote it one day. It kind of just started as a little thing where I wanted to do a little spoof thing where a girl Harry turned up from another universe and kinda kicked everybody around and took them round the twist. But suddenly I had it where she was really thirty-six, a time-traveller and in a relationship with Sev. Seriously, this even surprised me. But I'm sick, and I do strange things when I'm sick. It was also my intention to have this lasting only about a couple of thousand words at the most, not around six thousand, haha.

This story was actually meant to be more light-hearted than anything, as I said, a 'spoof' thing, (which is why the writing starts out quite 'primary school'), but I just don't think I'm capable of writing a light-hearted Severus. And by the end of it, it wasn't. At least at the moment I can't write a light-hearted Sev, anyway. I'd have to consciously be doing that and remain focused on a light-hearted Sev, however when I just write he always comes out more angst-ridden than anything. Oh well. He just is. There's no denying that.

Anyway! Review this weird thing of mine. Again, it was just a random, kinda barmy thing I wrote and decided to post. Seriously, what else am I going to do with it? Haha, anyway, review!

Take care,

Hermitt


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